Hollow City (#2 Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children Series)

Author: Ransom Riggs

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy.

Published: January 17th 2014

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My Rating: ★★★★

For anyone who has not read the first instalment of this series, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, I really cannot recommend enough that you do so. These novels are wonderful. Riggs uses numerous ‘creepy’ vintage photographs and builds his story around them. I loved the first novel and was not left disappointed by the second in the series.

We join Jacob, Emma and the other peculiar children exactly where we left off in the first book. Their loop has been raided, they have just fought against the wights to get Miss Peregrine back and they are now on the run. With their saviour, Miss Peregrine, trapped inside her bird form, Hollow City follows the peculiar children as they travel through various loops in search of Miss Wren, the only person who can help return Miss Peregrine to her human state and the only ymbryne not to be captured. This novel sees the peculiar children embark on their journey to London, coming into contact with both friends and foes along the way.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought most of the characters were well developed from what we learnt in the first book, particularly Emma as we read about her childhood and how she ended up with Miss Peregrine. We also see the development of Jacob and Emma’s blossoming romance; although, I don’t feel it is required in the book but is more of a sideshow. One of my favourite parts was when the children met Sam and her little sister Esme whilst they are hiding from a Hollowgast in London during the war. I liked the way that the relationship between the peculiar and the ‘normal’ children developed before they even knew that Sam was also a peculiar.

Another highlight for me was the Freak Show the children saw in London on their search for other peculiars. I loved the description of the ‘freaks’ that they encountered and how Riggs used the vintage photographs to make these characters all the more real. The use of the photographs in these novels is my favourite thing, it really makes this series a unique reading experience. It’s hard to separate the photographs from the novel, it’s all too easy to forget that the story has been written to incorporate these beautiful yet haunting images.

The reason I haven’t given 5 stars is simply because I felt there were moments in the book where I wanted to know more and I didn’t get it. Maybe this is selfish of me, after all this is a fast paced and interesting read. I’m already looking forward to reading the next instalment, especially after the mysterious ending of this one!